Pinkerton's Bestiary Log 7: Elementals
Another group among the shapeshifting class is the Elementals. These are a small batch of supernatural beings you’ll likely never encounter. These creatures are humanoid in shape but can take on the form of a respective element: fire, water, electricity, earth, metal, etc. One important note about this race is that they differ from their fairy-realm counterparts in that they cannot use their elements for attack, meaning that they cannot direct a lightning bolt or fireball from their hands. These are not magical beings in that sense. They could strike or drown you while in their elemental form, or perhaps they could stab you as a human, but they have no practical reason to do so.
There is a subclass of this group, sometimes referred to as Sprites. The only difference between an elemental and a sprite is that a sprite’s humanoid form will be reminiscent of their elemental form, so for example, they might have grass for hair, or green skin, or clay skin, or be made of water and so on. They are also short, between three and four feet in height. They may or may not look like children.
The elemental, however, takes on the form of a naked man or woman, and their height is within the same range as a human. They are found in deep forests, caves, rivers, places where nature abounds and man is seldom seen.
No one knows where they came from or their precise origins. And there is some debate about whether they are sentient—I personally believe they are. It’s hard to guess how old they are, and some believe that they can’t even breed. Here, I shall posit my own theory, which is based on my only elemental case. I believe that, in order to breed, the creatures must take a human partner, and that partner must agree to become an elemental as part of the marriage pact. This in fact happened.
A man went on a bear hunting expedition in Idaho. There, he encountered a woman in the middle of an intense storm. He shared his tent with her, and although they had no carnal relations, they spent the night talking until the storm passed. When the man awoke later in the afternoon, the woman was gone, but charred into the bark of a tree next to his tent was an inscription that said, “I have fallen in love with you. You will see me again.”
The man returned to his home in Utah. Obviously, Utah has far less rain than many states, but our lucky man was living in a region of Utah that has a higher number of thunderstorms than the rest of the state, not the highest number, but higher. This was my first clue. It was the disparity between the rain totals and the number of storms. In both the region of Idaho, where the man was hunting, and the region of Utah, where the man lived, the rainfall totals were somewhat low, but the thunderstorm mean was on the lower end of average. To give the precise numbers, in the case of both states, the rain total was 10-19 inches a year, but the number of thunderstorms was 27-36 a year, and in this particular year, the number was closer to 36 in both states.
This fact, coupled with the fact that our woman in question repeatedly visited our man only during storms, not just average rain showers, but only when there was lightning, told me I was dealing with an electric elemental. There is one other detail that I hesitate to submit, but it is relevant, so I feel I must. Each time the woman visited the man in his home—he lived in a medium-sized town—she was naked, but she was never arrested, neighbors never seemed to spot her, and she had no vehicle. At first, the man had suspected she was an apparition. But when he offered her clothing, she put it on, although she was somewhat clumsy during the task.
This detail was the fact that alerted the Mormon Church. The man was a member, and he asked for help, fearing his lovely apparition was a demon. The woman would always wait until the man had fallen asleep before she departed, and the storms always seemed to last until he was unconscious, another clue. She would remove the clothing and do her best to fold it before placing it on the couch, and when the man sent by the church inspected the garments, he found them damp, and he even found a long yellow hair. The man’s hair was brown.
Having money and thinking that the woman might be a homeless madman, he attempted a DNA test on the hair, hoping her name might show up on a police database. I should note that such measures are not typically taken, and the DNA test was the only reason the woman was eventually discovered. This is why such cases are so rare. How does one catch a creature that can turn into lightning, melt into mud, or vanish into the wind at a given moment?
Not only did he fail to find a name, but the test determined that the woman was not human. The test came back, “inconclusive,” the materialist’s favorite word. This left our churchman in quite a bind. Our poor man’s woman was not a demon, nor was she human. He decided that the best thing to do was see this woman for himself, so he showed up at the man’s house during the next storm.
Here is a brief segment of his account.
“She arrived at approximately 8:30pm, just as the rain was most intense. X opened the door, and she stood outside, wearing nothing at all. When she saw me standing behind X, she didn’t show the faintest hint of shame, but she did look worried. I introduced myself, and when she learned that I was from the church, her eyes brightened. Evidently, she thought X meant to marry her.
“She said, ‘I was beginning to wonder if you really loved me. But now I see. Thank you, but he won’t do. That’s not how this works. We must make the arrangement ourselves. God will understand. It’s His covenant.’
My first impulse was to ask her what she meant, but I realized that if she found out I wasn’t here to marry them, she would become hurt and might even turn suspicious. I found myself more and more certain that she wasn’t human as I watched her, but even if I were wrong, that would still mean she was insane, and crazy people can do anything when their hurt. Perhaps it was a lie, but I decided that the best thing I could do was let her go on believing that X meant to take her as his wife. X must’ve shared my opinion because he only nodded at her.”
After this encounter, I was called. It took the churchman some time to find me, but the Mormons have resources, and when the right calls are made, I am easy to find. I met our man about a month later. And, shortly after that, I met the woman. I’d already done the research I’ve previously described and was fairly certain of her species at this point, and my suspicions were confirmed when I met her.
I haven’t spoken of many cases so far. I suppose this is because I’ve dealt with so many vampires and werewolves that it’s hard to pick a proper example, and those memories are so unpleasant in any case. I’m happy to say that this was one of the most delightful encounters I’ve ever had. The woman was suspicious at first, but I was able to quickly calm her and sat with her at the kitchen table. We did have to deal with the unpleasant misunderstanding that she was under, and while she was very sad, our man was emphatic that he wasn’t rejecting her. In that instance, I felt very much like a counselor resolving a lover’s dispute because, whether our man had realized it or not, that was exactly what they had become. He even agreed to marry her by the end, and he was only hesitant because he was confused. The woman explained that her kind avoided humanity as a general rule, but she had been intrigued by him in Idaho. For this reason, she had been hesitant to admit what she was and even more worried about proving it because she believed that if she’d done so, he would agree to marry her out of fear. However, it was evident to me that she was not the type to do harm—at least, such a thing would’ve been very unlikely, but it is always unwise to assume, even in the most obvious circumstances.
During this exchange, I was able to ask her a number of questions regarding her kind. Personally, I think her testimony is more than sufficient to explain the elementals’ nature, but the Order’s academics have done their best to treat this woman as an unreliable narrator since she took the uncommon step of falling in love with a mortal man. Her claim refutes this abnormality, but the academics maintain their position, and I’m sad to say that my account has done little to end the ongoing debates about the elementals.
I should start out by saying more emphatically that, based on my interaction with this woman, elementals are sentient. Although, that is not to say they think the same as humans. Their lived experience is very different, and, therefore, they perceive the world in a very different way. They do seem to understand that there is a major power imbalance between them and man, but rather than emboldening them to try to overpower our race, this knowledge seems to have made them very shy. They have a strange aversion to fear. I don’t know if this aversion is learned or imprinted inside them. But they pride themselves on their gentle demeanor.
She told me that most elementals are women due to their tender nature. There are a few “tender men,” as she called them. But they almost never breed—unless they are already promised—because they are focused solely on the elementals’ work, which is to take care of creatures affected negatively by the elements. They are like the nymphs in this respect. The only difference being that they are a response to natural disasters rather than pure caretakers. Elementals help young animals find their parents after being displaced, help trapped animals, nurture the wounded, things of this nature. They do not help humans because humans, as she explained, have a will. Animals are reactionary, and, therefore, often need help. She said the elementals are a balancing force in nature, keeping the animals from being overwhelmed by chaos.
They have no home, and their travel and consciousness are tied to the disruptions of the elements. This is a difficult concept to explain. An earth elemental will be awake and moving wherever there is active plate tectonics. A fire elemental will be awake and moving depending on where there is a fire, a water elemental wherever there is running water. In our elemental’s case, she was awake and moving wherever there were thunderstorms or wherever a large amount of electricity had been amassed. She is not in all storms, but only one at a time, and, once that storm dissipates, she isn’t sure when or where she’ll wake up again, and she must move a storm herself or hop between storms to get where she wants to go. She told me that she cannot control electricity. She can only become electricity. She also maintained that she could not be summoned, another distinction between her kind and her cousins from the fairy realm. Her time between storms she described as being asleep. She dreams, but she knows not where.
There are only a few hundred of them in the world, and, when the various natural disasters become too much, they will decide to breed. Usually, only a handful of the women do this. In this respect, she was an outlier. She was so intrigued with our man that she broke protocol and only told the others of her kind after the fact. She said this wasn’t a large matter because there is no law over such things. Their limited population is due to a fear of humans and a tradition that has been held for a long time for unknown reasons.
In order to consummate the marriage, the man in question must first agree to become as she is because their union will take place in the sky. When I asked how she intended to obtain her gentleman’s agreement without telling him what she was. She did a good amount of rambling—I suspect the woman didn’t know her own mind—but the general sense of her words seemed to be that she was working up to it.
After this long and fascinating conversation, the logistical questions regarding the man’s former life were asked, and I agreed to make sure that his friends and family—he only had a brother and sister still connected to him—were taken care of; that is to say, were given a story to explain his absence. My general policy in this situation is to give assurances that the subject in question is alright but wishes not to be contacted for reasons he or she can’t afford to go into. If the friend or family member presses the matter, I leave them with the truth. They never believe it, but it doesn’t matter because usually, the man or woman caught up in the supernatural will visit their connections at some point, and whatever proof the friends and family require can be provided then. Of course, many times they still won’t believe. Implications, not proof, often determine worldviews.
When the conversation was finished, I allowed the couple some privacy. I stepped outside as they spoke for a while longer. I would need to gather some things for the man’s friends and family before I left, so my work was not done. A few minutes later, the couple stepped outside as well, holding hands. The woman thanked me for everything, and I thanked her for being so direct. Then she looked up at the sky. There was a bright flash, and I saw two bolts of lightning rushing toward the storm above. Just before the bolts reached the clouds, they merged into one. I looked down. All that remained of them were two piles of charred clothing on the doorstep.
Now, what to do if you encounter one of these beings? Personally, I don’t think they are much of a threat. I’ve wondered about their value in terms of reconnaissance, but, to my knowledge, such a thing hasn’t been tried. Their movements seem very dependent on environments, so it would be difficult to ensure they will be where you’d like them, assuming you can even find one to begin with. But I will say this, based on experience, they seem gentle in nature, even naïve. They’d be likely to tell you what happened but incapable of interpreting what any of it meant. I also wouldn’t expect them to act independently should the need arise. They would require precise orders, and if a variable were to take place, they would become unreliable. That being said, this case demonstrates the need to do as much research as possible prior to going into a situation. Were it not for the testimonies and data I’d gathered before, I could’ve walked into a situation where a demon was trying to gain access to the man’s mind. Had I advised him to accept the entity, he would’ve been lost, and I would’ve been responsible. But even after prior research, it’s important to listen, not just to the victims, but sometimes, to the creature itself. There are occasions where listening can save you a great deal of trouble. Do not go into a situation hot-headed. Start with caution, then move on to sympathy or aggression as required.
